A painting by a Brazilian street artist has encapsulated the country's struggle with the upcoming World Cup.

Just weeks ahead of the start of the World Cup, a Brazilian artist has encapsulated the feelings of the country's underclass in one painting.

In it, a crying child sits at a table, knife and fork in hand and a soccer ball on his plate.

The message is clear: the country, known for its love of football, does not need it. It needs support for its underclass.

IMAGE: PAUL ITO

The painting was done by Paul Ito, whose other work can be found on his Flickr account.

"People already have the feeling and that image condensed this feeling," Ito recently toldSlate.

Underneath the glamour of the world's biggest soccer tournament, Brazil has grappled with inequality that protestors have argued are only exacerbated by events like the World Cup.

Unrest has surfaced in a variety of ways including labor strikes and protests, which have recently escalated.

"Cup for the rich, scraps for the poor," protesters have chanted.

Inequality in Brazil is not as bad as it once was. Inequality Watch shows that extreme poverty in the country has fallen along with its Gini coefficient, a measurement of income distribution.

IMAGE: OXFAM

But it's still pretty bad. Brazil is among the most unequal countries. To make matters worse, that inequality correlates with a low degree of economic mobility, meaning poor people tend to stay poor.

IMAGE: WASHINGTON CENTER FOR EQUITABLE GROWTH

The World Cup was supposed to provide an economic boost to Brazil, allowing the country to use an influx of money and little spending to improve public infrastructure. Instead, as Think Progress reports, "the cost of stadiums has risen by billions of dollars and many of the other projects have been delayed or canceled altogether."

Financial services firm Moody's has warned that the economic stimulus lauded as a significant upside of hosting the tournament will do little to improve the country's tenuous economic situation.